He reaches across the table, his fingers tangling with mine. “No sorry needed. That’s what I’m here for. That’s what we’re here for. We’re your family, Kerry. I’ll always love and support you, especially against anyone who tries to hurt you.” His thumb brushes slow, grounding circles over my wrist.

I smile softly, but there’s a little weight behind it. “You know, in three months, it’s also the end of my one-year contract.”

Vic smirks, his eyes never leaving mine. “And one year since we started dating.”

I raise an eyebrow, laughing. “Correction, fake dating.”

“Same thing,” he says with a cool shrug. “It was always real for me.”

I laugh a bit too loud. “Oh really? Even when you were rejecting me? Hurting my feelings?”

He laughs. “You’re never gonna let me live that down, huh?” Then, he smirks. “Speaking of hurt… I’m hurt that it’s been days since I’ve had you all to myself.”

My face warms. “You can’t wait one more day?”

He leans in, his voice a husky whisper. “Fuck, no. I need you…sooner…as in tonight. The kids are staying in Mom’s villa.”

I gasp. “Vic! This is a family vacation.”

He grins, his voice dropping even lower. “And I’m trying to expand our family.”

His words feel like a promise that hasn’t quite registered before he slowly slides his hand back under the table.

He doesn’t rush.

It just rests there at first, just warm his warm skin against mine until his thumb grazing slow, lazy strokes as if we’re not sitting in a crowded restaurant. As if I’m not trying to remember how to breathe.

I bite the inside of my cheek, trying to keep my expression composed, but my thighs clench involuntarily, already betraying me.

Vic leans in slightly, his mouth brushing the shell of my ear. “What’s wrong, Kerry?” He whispers

I swallow, hard. “Nothing.”

He smiles like he knows I’m lying. His fingers begin to move, working their way up my thigh, inch by inch. I shift in my seat, but there’s nowhere to go. He has me exactly where he wants me.

His fingers skim the edge of my panties. My breath hitches again.

“Nothing?” He repeats, dipping his head slightly like he’s studying my reaction. His touch lingers there, just long enough to drive me insane, then slips beneath my dress.

My body tenses. The moment his fingers find me, slick and desperate, I forget everything else.

“Oh…”

Vic groans low in his throat. “This doesn’t feel like nothing, Damn, Kerry. You’re soaking wet.”

He strokes me slowly, just one finger at first, dragging up through the center of me, grazing my clit with a teasing lightness that makes my knees threaten to give out, even sitting down.